Thursday, September 15, 2016

Diverse Reads On Scribd

Scribd is an electronic reading service that provides subscribers with three monthly ebook credits and one monthly audio credit to spend on titles from participating publishers. There's also a large, rotating selection of Unlimited books and audios available without a credit. While many large, mainstream publishers put their books on Scribd, the service is especially valuable to anyone interested in exploring work from smaller and/or niche publishers, like those who publish books by and about marginalized people. These sorts of books are less likely to show up in public libraries, and they often carry a high price tag even in ebook format. Scribd makes them more accessible to readers with smaller budgets or sparser librarians.

The books listed below are available at the time of this writing (September 14th, 2016), mostly within the credit selection, but the publishers who put their books on Scribd do sometimes change out their offerings so I can't guarantee how long these titles will be up. On the plus side, they may also be rotated into one of the monthly Unlimited pools, removing the need for a credit!

Once again, I've limited this list to books I've personally read and enjoyed, to the first book in a series where relevant, to books available in Canada (Scribd imposes geographic restrictions, so I can't see material available in other territories), and to authors who I can identify as diverse based on photos, bios, and public discussions I've witnessed. I'd love to hear your own recommendations in the comments, particularly where openly queer authors are concerned. I'm sure I've left many wonderful writers off the list because I don't know they're queer.

Starting with prose fiction by genre and moving along to audiobooks, I recommend:

Also, YES to that warning at the end of the Boy, Snow, Bird entry. I'm also hesitant to even recommend it... but also, Bird is just such a wonderful character. And the writing is beautiful. And UGH WHY THAT ENDING GODDAMNIT HELEN.

If you've ever said, "Hey, I wish I could acquire a new book and give Memory a tiny amount of money at the same time," you're in luck! That's exactly what'll happen if you purchase something through one of the handy-dandy graphical links below!

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